Dweezil, Thank you so much for this truly amazing performance Sat. at the Auditorium theatre in Chicago. I was fortunate enough to see Frank in 1988 when I was a mere jr. in high school. I had only listened to Apostrophe prior to that show. I still recall having to pick my jaw up off the floor by concerts end. What I witness then has changed me forever. Last night was an extension of that experience some 18 years later.

For those of you who are contemplating paying $50 plus to see the Dweezil play his fathers music with a new band, Donâ€™tâ€¦ This show was worth every penny. I now know I would have paid double. I came into the show with a little hesitation. It took me just a few songs to forget my fears. Wowie Zowie, the band had me dancing in my seat all night. Inca Roads and Zomby Woof were my favorites. My only complaint is what took so damn long for this to happen.

Please, get out see this show and support this band. If we do, perhaps this can turn into a regular event. I donâ€™t want to wait another 18 years.

A few things:
YOU CANNOT TEMPT US WITH THAT AMAZING FOOTAGE FROM THE ROXY DVD WITHOUT RELEASING IT SOON! PLEASE DWEEZIL, I NEED THIS!!!

Also, Steve Vai is probably the greatest guitar player I have ever heard, second only (maybe) to Satriani, technically. Dweez really held his own...I've always known he was a great guitarist but wow...I'm so happy I saw him live. His dualing solos with Vai were absolutely fucking mindblowing.

BOZZIO...holy crap. My life would have been incomplete had I not seen Bozzio play in his element...in Zappa's music, as opposed to those Guitar Center drum-offs he used to frequent Fucking amazing. I have to admint when I saw Dweezil get choked-up (nothing to be shameful of my friend, nothing at all), I got a frog in my throat as well. Seeing Frank on the screen with his own son FULLY LIVING UP TO HIS LEGACY RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME..."moving" is an understatement, it was almost life-altering.

Please, please, PLEASE come back to Chicago soon. I know Frank liked playing here, always played 2 nights...you guys need to really come back around again. Same band!!!

It seems to me that Frank Zappa could only have been as good as the musicians which he surrounded himself with; therefore, looking at the long list of amazing musicians who played with Frank over the years, we can see why Frank was as truly great as he was. The same can be said with Dweezil and the young musicians we all saw this weekend. As we all know, Zappa's music can be beautiful, challenging, and amazing - oftentimes all at the same time - and this new group shows that there are still musicians up for the challenge of presenting this music in a live setting.

Surprisingly enough, the only person who really truly stole the show was Frank, coming to us from the past playing alongside the live musicians through a video screen. There was so much about this that could have failed (think of all the times we've seen musicians playing from 'beyond the grave'...), but in this case it was pulled off with grace and was the most fantastic five minutes of this almost three hour concert. For someone having never seen Frank live, it allowed me to imagine just how great he really was.

There was of course a certain freshness and bite that was lost in this concert with Frank no longer there, but the music is so well crafted that it definitely stands on it's own. This is even more so with musicians who were as excited and serious about it as they were that evening. If this band is to continue to present Frank's music over the coming years, then I'm sure it will be able to grow along with Dweezil and the musicians. I am certainly looking forward to seeing this band again in the future.

Dweezil's guitar playing is superb and so perfect for Frank's music. I felt however that Dweezil's guitar wasn't loud enough in the mix, which is a shame because of how great he was playing. Anyway, it was a great evening and a perfect birthday treat...

I DID IT. I fucking did it man. I'm just going to paste my post from another forum. (Voivod, to be exact, and yes there are many FZ fans over there, some thanks to me ) So anyway -- some of this stuff will be obvious to many of you, but I'm too tired to create an entirely new post.

Quote:

I drove all the way to Chicago from Minneapolis for this motherfucker, and it was BEYOND anything I could have imagined.

My head is still spinning... the 900 miles driving to & from Chicago, (after having just returned from a 4200 mile road trip to & from California last week) my first encounter with Illinois & the magnificent Windy City... then THIS SHOW came along and just completely blew me away.

This was easily one of the most emotional, memorable nights of music I've ever experienced. Too many highlights to mention, but off the top of my head:

Florentine Pogen - Three words: Napoleon Murphy Brock

The Black Page #2 - (thankfully) less like 'E-Z Teenage New York', more 'Baby Snakes'. My second fave of the show.

Peaches En Regalia - See Echidna's Arf, below

Montana

Echidna's Arf - An all time personal Zappa fave, played to perfection. Couldn't wipe the grin from my face.

Zomby Woof - Steve Vai is a fucking alien, folks. No human can do that shit to a guitar, and have those sounds come out of it. I urge & challenge all Vai-haters to go see this show, if possible. I was already a fan, but I have all new respect for this dude.

Inca Roads - IN-fucking-CREDIBLE!!! Dweezil announced that there was a "friend" in the audience who just loves the song with 'Guacamole Queen' in the lyrics. He calls for the house lights and asks 'Ellis' to stand up. As it turns out, 'Ellis' is about a 9-year old boy. Dweez waves him over to the stage, helps him up there, and allows the kid to watch & listen to the entire song from right up on stage, but that's not all. During the first part of the guitar solo, he grabs the kid's hand with his own left, and starts using THE KID'S FINGERS to play the fretboard! I have never seen anything quite like it, and I'll bet Ellis will never forget this night. Ellis was allowed to roam the stage and observe & participate with some of the other musicians throughout.

Besides all that, their version of Inca Roads was so perfect that it actually brought a tear to my eye. Seeing such a young kid up there totally digging Zappa's music made it that much better.

I guarantee that if FZ is looking down on his son on this tour, he's the proudest dad there is.

ALL HUMANS are strongly urged to find a way to this show.

Oh yeah, BTW Terry fucking Bozzio tore the place a new asshole as well.

Dweezil has assembled a world-class group of musicians, and completely immersed himself in his father's music. (not to mention completely re-inventing himself as a Guitarist/ musician in the process)

The funniest thing of all was returning home only to see that MINNEAPOLIS has been added as a date in October! No regrets whatsoever though, I'd drive to 100 cities to see this show repeatedly if I could afford to.

Good to see another Voivod head on here! (RIP Piggy) Anyway, I agree with EVERYONE'S assessment that this was one for the ages! If you weren't there, well, you blew it, now didn't you? Zomby Woof was my personal favorite, but being a Vai-head, that's a gimme! I did make the crucial blunder of assuming, due to previous set lists posted, there was a break after Inca Roads. WRONG! Do NOT leave yer seat! Ellis rules, too!Now, to find the tapes!

it was better than a Project Object show!!
but Dweezil got cheap on us and hired a bunch of kids to be his band!-pus.
frank would NEVER of hired joe, the percussionist, keyboard guy or that chick. (the kid BASS player was bad ass!)
for sake of being showed up, Dweezil only gave Steve Vai one song to solo on!!! but a good solo he did on "Zomby Woof" Dweez even uttered"lets see how long it stays in tune??" eat shame dweezil, you did nothing but be shy and scared, go play golf, and leave the music for the big kids.
if Bozzio wasnt there I would of BOOOOOO-ED

"better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt"
The forum is cool. I'm at the Wiltern show Friday and up to SF for the Warfield Saturday and it's great fun to see set lists and have an idea of what these shows are about and doing.

Upon reading the excellent review and analysis by the scholarly chap from, ahem, Chickenville, of Dweezil's endeavors, I feel that maybe I ought to quickly ebay my tickets lest I have to listen to a bunch of kids and witness Dweezil shaming himself.

First of all, thank you Dweezil for keeping Frank's music alive, and thank you for all your hard work on accuratley recreating the music.

Being one of the younger people at the show at chicago(early teens, long time fan), and having my father introduce me to Frank at a very young age i was extremely impressed by the show.

Also, as an aspiring guitarist, Dweezil's skill and passion has really inspired me. I'm sure everyone wants to thank Dweezil for putting this tour together even though its not easy for him to play with his father via technology.

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